A New Friend
by Tsukiyomi the Ghost Writer
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki is tired of the leaf villagers treating him poorly. So in a depressed state, he leaves. But when he bumps into a lone wolf pup, what would he do? Did he finally find the friend he always longed for? Short, and a little dark, but cute. Enjoy.


**Yo. Tsuki, here. I'm making this one-shot as a way for people to cool off from the most recent chapter of Omnipresence, along with the coming of the newly dubbed "Project: Hakushijotai" in 2015. ****It's going to be very stressful, and I love wolves, so add that into the mixture of ideas called my brain, and WHAM! Here I am, typing this. Here is the full summary;**

**"Naruto Uzumaki is tired of the leaf villagers treating him poorly. So in a depressed state, he leaves. But when he bumps into a lone wolf pup, what would he do? Did he finally find the friend he always longed for?"**

**Well. Enjoy.**

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><p>It's happening again. Like it always does. 6-year old Naruto Uzumaki is seen running from an angry mob of villagers.<p>

"Come back here, you demon!" a villager shouted at the little boy.

"I'm not a demon! What did I ever do to you?!" Naruto shouted, covered in bruises and minor wounds. Naruto ran as fast as his little feet would carry him. He didn't like the village people. The glares, the abuse, the hateful comments. He just wanted all of that to stop. But when he asked the Hokage; 'why do they hate me?', Hiruzen always replied with; 'I don't know.'

So here he is, running away from the scary villagers. He turned into an alleyway, and jumped over the fence. He kept turning corners, jumping over fences, anything to get away. Naruto just wanted to get away from it all. Finally, he managed to shake them off. Just then, an ANBU official jumped into his path. Naruto recognized him as Inu.

"Uzumaki-san, please come with us. The Hokage wants to see you." the ANBU said. Reluctantly, he shifted over to the ANBU, who picked him up and used Shunshin. They appeared in Hiruzen's office, as he was finishing his paperwork. He looked up and smiled.

"Hi, Naruto. I see that the ANBU has caught up with you." Hiruzen said, in a grandfatherly way. Naruto then realized something.

"Wait, Jiji. If he 'caught up' with me, then why didn't he help me?!" Naruto shouted.

"It wasn't my orders. Hokage-sama only wanted me to retrieve you." the ANBU said.

"Yes, er, ahem. You may leave now."

The ANBU nodded, and disappeared. Naruto immediately started to cry.

"Jiji, why do they keep hurting me? I want to know!"

"I don't know-"

Suddenly, Naruto gripped Hiruzen's collar, and yanked him down to eye level.

"You know. Tell me why, Jiji. Why do they hate me?!" Naruto yelled, crying. Hiruzen watched as the poor boy wept, feeling ashamed of himself for letting this happen to the boy. He honestly never wanted Naruto to know, but he felt he owed at least that much, no matter his reaction.

And so he explained the truth of the Kyuubi Attack.

Naruto's eyes widened. He let go of Hiruzen's collar, stumbling backwards as if he had been struck.

"So...I'm a demon...?" Naruto said, even more depressed than ever.

"No! Of course not, Naruto! You can't be a demon, if you have a kind heart!" Hiruzen shouted, only to realize that Naruto was gone, and the door to his office was swinging slightly.

"Oh no..."

Hiruzen called in two ANBU, and panicked;

"Find Naruto Uzumaki, NOW!" he yelled. The two ANBU flinched, but nodded and disappeared.

**{Konoha Main Gate}**

Naruto ran as fast as he could. The little blond was holding in the tears that threatened to fall. He ran into the forest, but he didn't stop to enjoy the scenery. Naruto ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore. He dropped onto the cold ground and sobbed. Why couldn't the village leave him alone? It was bad enough that he had no one to call Mommy or Daddy, but to make his life a living hell ever since his birth? Naruto just wanted to get away. Away from this hell he called life. For him to rush into his mommy's open arms, and hear her say she was there, that she would never leave. He wanted to hear his daddy's voice! feel his hand ruffling through his hair, telling him how proud he was of him.

He wanted to know that feeling. Just once.

He wanted to hear his parents say that they cared, unlike this cruel world that tormented him so much. He wanted to see their smiling faces. But he knew that would never happen, that it would never exist. Naruto felt the pain physically, too. The constant beatings left its mark. He slowly closed his eyes, letting darkness consume him.

He wanted it to just end.

...

Naruto woke with a start when he felt a tiny presence on his chest. Naruto looked down to see a small white wolf pup resting its little head on his chest, using him like a bed. It looked up at him. Azure eyes met amber as they just stared at each other. Naruto looked at its eyes with amazement. They looked like the setting sun. The little pup tilted its head to the side, and gave a small yip. But Naruto heard;

"Will you be my friend?"

He was shocked that he actually heard it speak, but he mistook it for an intruder. He looked at the pup and said;

"Did you hear that?"

The pup shook its head slightly.

"No. I don't hear anything." it said.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wait. You can understand me?" the pup said, now shocked as well.

"Y-Yeess...but...you're a talking wolf...Wolves don't talk..." Naruto said. The little pup seemed amused. Obviously, Naruto hasn't heard about Summoning Animals.

"Yeah...But...No one can understand me...I'm all alone..." the little wolf said, its ears drooping.

"I know how you feel. My former home hated me. I have no friends." Naruto said.

"Then...Can I be your friend...?" the pup asked, placing its tiny paws on his chest.

"...You...want to be my friend...?"

"Yes. I do...I feel like I wanna stick around you...Even if just for a while. You seem cool." the pup said, its ears coming up again.

"...I'm so grateful..." Naruto said, smiling a little. He cried a little, and he hugged the wolf to his chest. He finally has a friend. Someone he can relate to.

"Don't you have parents?" the pup asked, only for Naruto to return to his depressed state.

"...No. I have no family. I'm all alone." Naruto sobbed. The puppy licked his cheek affectionately.

"Well, now you no longer are alone. I'm going to make sure of that. Consider me your family." The pup said, determined to cheer up her new friend. The dam that held back Naruto's tears finally broke, as he sobbed uncontrollably. The little puppy nuzzled into the crook of his neck, trying to comfort him.

"Thank you so much..." Naruto said in between sobs. The pup's ears perked up when she heard a female voice.

"Shirona! Where are you?!" th voice shouted.

"Oh crap..." the now-known Shirona whispered.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"It's my mom. She left the colony searching for me. If she sees me with you, she'll kill you!" Shirona said in a harsh whisper. Naruto panicked. Just then, a fully-grown white wolf with blue markings appeared from a bush. She growled when she saw Naruto. She pounced on him and tried to tear him apart, while screaming;

"What do you think you're doing to my daughter, _human?_" She spat at him. Shirona tried to get her off Naruto, (Pfft. That's what she said.), while shouting;

"Mother Khari! He wasn't hurting me! He's a friend!" Shirona screamed at her mother. Khari froze.

"You made a friend?" she said, looking at Naruto. Shirona nodded happily, while jumping on Naruto's head.

"Yep! He's like me!" Shirona said. Her expression turned sad, as she looked at Naruto.

"Except his village hates him, and he has no friends or family to comfort him..." Shirona said. Naruto looked into Khari's eyes, nearly pleading her not to kill him. Khari's heart almost shattered looking at the boy's face.

No child should have that look.

Even though he wore a cheerful expression all the time, right now he didn't, and Khari could see all the pain he went through just by looking at his eyes. Khari got off Naruto.

"I'm sorry..." Khari apologized. Something in her wanted to help him, do anything to make him smile at least once. She had an idea.

"It's alright. I'm fine." Naruto said. He got up, and dusted himself off. Khari and Shirona frowned.

He's pretending to be happy, yet he's still broken inside.

That takes balls.

Khari turned and trotted back to the direction of the wolf colony, Shirona not far behind. She came to the same conclusion as her mother, and she loved the idea. Khari stopped, and turned to Naruto.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked. Naruto looked confused.

"Where?" he asked, skeptically.

"I said that you can call us family, Naruto. I meant what I said. So, are you coming or not?" Shirona said with a chuckle. Naruto was once again shocked. They wanted to take him in? As his family? A warm feeling coursed through him. And he knew what it was.

Happiness.

Naruto rushed forward, and gripped the two wolves into a bone-crushing hug. He kept saying 'Thank-You' over and over, as he sobbed. But they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of joy. Khari and Shirona understood. They were just as happy as he was. The three of them released each other, and Naruto followed Khari and Shirona back to their wolf colony. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the setting sun, with Konoha's Gates disappearing behind him.

He smiled.

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><p><strong>Done. It was short and kind of cliché, I know, but I thought of this while I was in the shower. Most authors seem to get their story ideas from the weirdest of places, these days...<strong>

***sigh* I'm just glad everyone else is asleep, or else Blair would've found a way to make this story perverted, somehow. Oh well, I shouldn't think about unimportant matters.**

** I'll see you guys in 2015.**


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